Today. Was. Torture.
Long, drawn out, weightlifting based torture.
Mostly because it involved moving vast quantities of weighty items up my greatest foe, stairs.
The first thing I did today was locate the staff areas up on the top floor, then pulled a bag of rocks up the stairs and used one to bash the handle clean off. After that, I investigated and found the roof access pretty easily, though it did take another quick bash with my handy rock to actually open the hatch. After that, came moving the panels up to the top. Though, fortunately, there I had an ally. One. Singular.
The escalators!
Mainly because even if they were inactive, they at least weren't the spiral staircases I had been using. Really, I don't know why I haven't been using them before. Even if they aren't working, they're easier to navigate than those other stairs.
It still wasn't easy, pushing those boxes up the escalators. But it wasn't as hard as it could have been. Then came getting them out the roof access hatch onto the actual roof, which was also an exercise in fun. Of course, I had the presence of mind to move the rocks upstairs as well. By the time I managed to get everything on the roof, it was time for a late lunch. If I was going to have one at all.
What was Grace doing during all of this? Well, early in the morning, she was monitoring the radio, but after lunch she took her wagon and Skippy and decided she would go back to the apartment building we'd visited before, finish raiding it of anything we'd not been able to get the first time.
Good dog, that Skippy. Knew to go with her and keep her safe with me only needing to tell him once.
Got the starter solar kits unboxed first and read the instructions, because I figured that was the way to start. With at least some knowledge. After laying them all down, I realized that I would need some of those leftover extension cords. Like, all of them. Especially if I wanted to coat the roof in solar panels and have them all feed into one centralized mass down the rooftop window.
Oh yeah, I'd planned this out.
So I weighted the panels down with some rocks so they wouldn't blow away, then drove back to Lowes and loaded that van up with every roll of extension cord I could find. Even went over to Wal-Mart in search of more, when that home improvement store ran out.
Driving back home with a load of cable, I whistled a happy little tune even if it did mean more lifting things up stairs. I had a plan for this.
I managed to get all the cords I'd gathered up on the roof, and gently, I pulled one massive pane of glass open. Still holding that pane open, I took the longest roll of extension cord and dangled it down into the museum proper, before gently lowering that pane again. Then I kept feeding the cord down into the museum, barely reaching ground level before I ran out.
The rest of my cords would be used to make sure that all of the solar panels networked together into one massive power line. That same power line I'd just fed down into the museum. Thank goodness most of the cords I picked up allowed for multiple things to be plugged into them.
Now I would just have to hope my insane plan actually worked.
I got all the starter kits opened up and set up and weighted down, and barely managed to get them all networked together. Fortunately, they seemed to be designed for that, as I saw that they also came with a battery each, which promised to convert DC to AC. Figuring that the sun setting was as good an indication as any, I headed back down into the museum proper and pulled the roof hatch shut after me.
After dinner, Grace and I sat around the radio like normal. "So," she asked before turning it on. "What's with the big blue cord in the middle of the place?"
"Gonna be our power line once I get the solar hooked up to it," I said, cracking my neck. "Got a good start on it today, gonna try and finish it up tomorrow."
"Sounds good," Grace said with a nod. "Found a lot of supplies in that apartment today. Think the place is nearly dry, though. Might need you to open another soon."
"I can do that," I said with a nod. "Just let me know when, and I'll open one with a trusty rock."
"Not a problem."
"To those of you that can hear us, I'm Henry." "I'm Grace, and we're survivors in the Denver area." "You are not alone. You don't need to be alone. We are willing to help those that need it." "Just, fair warning, you'll probably have to pull your fair share." "Please...be out there to hear us."